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A review by kevinwkelsey
Blade Runner 2019, Vol. 1: Los Angeles by Michael Green, Mike Johnson, Andres Guinaldo
5.0
Quality movie tie-ins are rare, and I’m extremely pleased to say that this is one of the best I’ve read. A lot of tie-ins skimp on the artwork — Expanse: Origins, I’m looking at you — but this series, thankfully, understands just how pivotal and elemental the visuals of Blade Runner have been to every story told in this universe. The original 1982 film set the scene, the brilliant point-and-click 1997 video game produced by Westwood Studios showed the darker corners, Villenueve’s striking sequel Blade Runner 2049, as well as its prequel short films expanded beautifully on that foundation, and now this sequel to the original film follows forward from those footsteps.
It’s been repeated so many times that it’s become a caricature of the truth embodied when first stated, but for Blade Runner, the visuals — the dirty, dripping city, the background characters, the clothing and architecture — are a real character in the story. Andres Guinaldo’s illustrations are gorgeous and pitch-perfectly capture the feel of Syd Mead’s retro-futuristic 1982 Los Angeles of 2019 that we all know and love.
Michael Green, the screenwriter of Blade Runner 2049, penned these issues along with Mike Johnson, well known for his work in the DC and Star Trek universes. The story is beautifully realized, and captures tonally the bleak, fight for your life world of Los Angeles, with subtle nuance and expanded world building in the new layers of the city we thought we knew. In addition to this, we have a few new locations outside Los Angeles to explore, as well as hints toward future locations in upcoming issues, some of which I have been waiting a long, long time to see. Color me excited for what is to come.
Ash, our main protagonist in this series, is a fully rounded three dimensional character. She has fought her way up from the streets as an orphan and made a name for herself as a ruthless, resourceful and intelligent hunter of replicants. So efficient in heartlessly pursuing her prey, as to attain nearly bogeyman status among them.
This story feels like it’s meant to be read in one sitting, flowing best when read continuously in a trade paperback like this, rather than issue to issue, where I found it broken into too brief segments to connect deeply with. Take that with a grain of salt, this may just be my film bias bleeding through, as I find the same fault in almost all comic books I read. I much prefer collections to single issues.
I am extremely pleased with Blade Runner 2019. May it continue for a hundred issues at least.
It’s been repeated so many times that it’s become a caricature of the truth embodied when first stated, but for Blade Runner, the visuals — the dirty, dripping city, the background characters, the clothing and architecture — are a real character in the story. Andres Guinaldo’s illustrations are gorgeous and pitch-perfectly capture the feel of Syd Mead’s retro-futuristic 1982 Los Angeles of 2019 that we all know and love.
Michael Green, the screenwriter of Blade Runner 2049, penned these issues along with Mike Johnson, well known for his work in the DC and Star Trek universes. The story is beautifully realized, and captures tonally the bleak, fight for your life world of Los Angeles, with subtle nuance and expanded world building in the new layers of the city we thought we knew. In addition to this, we have a few new locations outside Los Angeles to explore, as well as hints toward future locations in upcoming issues, some of which I have been waiting a long, long time to see. Color me excited for what is to come.
Ash, our main protagonist in this series, is a fully rounded three dimensional character. She has fought her way up from the streets as an orphan and made a name for herself as a ruthless, resourceful and intelligent hunter of replicants. So efficient in heartlessly pursuing her prey, as to attain nearly bogeyman status among them.
This story feels like it’s meant to be read in one sitting, flowing best when read continuously in a trade paperback like this, rather than issue to issue, where I found it broken into too brief segments to connect deeply with. Take that with a grain of salt, this may just be my film bias bleeding through, as I find the same fault in almost all comic books I read. I much prefer collections to single issues.
I am extremely pleased with Blade Runner 2019. May it continue for a hundred issues at least.